Angel Cross: Binding Darkness
by Kaito Lune
Summary: [AU after KH1] After the arrival of Heartless in Odaiba, Takeru, Hikari, and Gatomon join with Riku to find their friends and family. After coming upon a mysterious castle, a man promises that they'll have to lose something to regain something lost. What are they to lose? What are they to gain? [restarted July 7, 2014]
1. Chapter 1,1: The Start of the Weekend

**For old readers: So, after a while, I finally get hit in the head with rewriting this story. The first three chapters are going to be divided up into many parts, so it may be a little while before we actually get new material, but there are several textual changes, so it'll be worth rereading. Old versions will be up on my tumblr (see link in my profile if you're interested). I'll detail differences in the post itself.**

**For new readers: This story blends both the English and Japanese versions of _Adventure 02_. The story follows the Japanese timeline (sans epilogue), uses the official English digimon names, and both Japanese and English names for the humans. English names for the kids are nicknames here and are used in dialogue only (with a few exceptions).**

**Basic info: This story is heavily inspired by Gemini Star01's _Kingdom of the Elemental Hearts_, which I highly suggest if you enjoy _Digimon Frontier_ and _Kingdom Hearts. _Be warned, though, it is incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2009. **

**_Binding Darkness_ takes place two to three years after the end of _Adventure 02_ and a little less than a month after the end of _Kingdom Hearts._So, Riku, Takeru, and Hikari are all around fifteen years old (though Riku is closer to sixteen). This pseudo AU will loosely follow the storyline of _Chain of Memories/Reverse Rebirth _and after, this one corresponding with said game.**

**Update info: Every chapter in the story will be an arc set in a different world (or to some equivalent), and will be divided into two to eight parts (with about 2k words each). Updates hopefully will be once a week or bi-monthly, though this is an estimation since I'm currently working, will be going to university in the fall, and am working on two more stories. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Kingdom Hearts _or _Digimon Adventure 02. _Only things I own are a handful of characters at best.**

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><p><span>Angel Cross: <span>Binding Darkness

****Chapter 1.1: Start of the We****ekend********

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><p><span>World: Unknown<span>

All he could feel was numbness, as if he wasn't alive. Yet breath journeyed in and out of the sleeping body. But how did the mind raced. Memories. Truths. Lies. They all came. They all went. Over and over again they played in a hazy fog.

__"Sleep,"__cooed an airy soprano voice.

The sleeper didn't obey. Icy blue eyes flashed open, and the cycle of memories halted. The sudden jolt left him thinking he had just awakened from a long dream, momentarily leaving him with a hazy idea of who he was. Names spun in his mind. Some unfamiliar, others intimate. Two of them stood out and clashed in his mind, fighting with shadowy memories and enduring claims to the boy's heart. Finally, the weaker but more persistent name of Riku won out. And with the name came all the memories associated with it.

Proud and broad shoulders slumped in time with his head. __That's right___._

Riku shook his thick mop of silver hair and studied the empty gray twilight. He attempted to call out, but only silence escaped his lips. He clamped a black-gloved hand over his mouth with wide eyes. __What is this place? And where is anyone?__

The silver-haired boy took a step forward and a light burst from where his foot landed. A small orb floated up close to his face, making Riku squint. He waved it away, and the orb hovered back a few inches.

__"Sleep. Return to sleep."__

Riku mouthed something, but cut himself short when he remembered his lack of voice in this place.

__"This is the place between Light and Darkness, Sleeping and Awakening, Life and Death."__

He jerked his head about in hopes of finding the location of the voice, but not even a streak of shadow caught his eye. Just the twilight. So, he turned his attention to the circling orb. Riku felt a pair of eyes examining him from the small light. Or he was going mad. _Well, it wouldn't be the first time, _he thought.__Between sleeping, awakening, life, death-? What the hell does that even mean?__

__"It means you have a choice-" ___Riku flinched. "-___to remain Asleep and fade away, never to feel pain again; or to Awaken and return to the chaos and pain. You only have one choice, and you can never make this decision again." ___The orb stopped, floating expectantly before him._

Riku thought for a long moment, head turned away slightly with the light still within his peripheral vision. _How did..._ He turned back to the orb. __You're speaking to my heart, aren't you? How do I know I can trust you?__

__"Because I am the only one here."__

Riku gave a soundless snort. __What do you want, then?__

__"For you to sleep. That's all I want."___ The voice paused.___ "You were close to winning, but your Heart is too weak to finish it. Don't you remember?"__

__It's not like I'm-!__

__"Just return to sleep."__

__And if I don't?__ Riku narrowed his eyes at the light.

__"You will suffer by your own hands, not mine. This is your choice. All I offer is a chance to stay away from Awakening."__

__Then you really don't care which I choose? I'd say you're pretty zealous to keep me asleep. Unless this is one of ___his___ mind games.__

_The voice remained silent; the orb flickered._

Riku smirked.

In a shimmer of light, the orb morphed into a blue card. Riku's face contorted in confusion as the card floated into arm's reach.

_"_It's a door to Truth. Take it, and all this will end. If you don't—"__

__I stay asleep.__ Riku snatched the card from the air. _This is a pretty boring place to take a nap, anyways._

The card then started to shine, casting shadows in the twilight. Not even shut eyes could block out the glare. The light died, soon replaced the sensation being pulled up through a deep ocean at a million miles an hour.

Then, his senses cut out to darkness.

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><p><span>World: Japan (Odaiba)<span>

The school bell shrilled. In deafening excitement, students rushed from their classes to the locker bay to gather coats so they could arrive home earlier for the weekend. The blond moved in time with the others to ensure the worst he got from others was a few bumps from some of his quicker schoolmates. When he came to his locker, he broke from the crowd and gathered his things. Just as the blond closed his locker, a peppy call of "Hey, TK!" sounded over the excited chatter.

Takeru turned to meet a lithe maroon-haired boy and a lanky lavender-haired girl pushing their way through the now slow stream of student. Behind them, a pale brunette meandered between breaks in the crowd. The blond grinned at them.

"You ready for the best fright night of your life?" the maroon-haired boy exclaimed. "I've got a new challenge for ya."

Takeru cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Another one? Daisuke, I thought I won the last one_._"

"B-bull! For your information, I _didn't_ lose! That was Jun's scream. And, TJ, don't use that name." The maroon-haired boy pouted and crossed his arms. "I don't scream that high." The two boys then exchanged grins.

"Oh brother." The lavender-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Davis, Takeru, we're going to be in high school soon, yet you two act like you're still ten. It'll honestly be a wonder how either of you will survive your finals."

Davis shot her a frown. "Way to be a party pooper, Miyako."

"Yolei, you know that will happen just around the time when Taichi will learn how to use a computer without making it freeze." The brunette chuckled, before looking at the boys. "And speaking of parties, you might want to cool it down for the party tonight like Yolei suggested."

Davis and Takeru looked at their friends. "Sure, once TK admits it was _him_ who lost the challenge!" Davis said, folding his arms stubbornly.

Takeru peaked behind the maroon-haired boy, feigning curiosity. "Isn't that Sadako behind you?"

Davis automatically gave out a small gasp and fell into the lockers. Seeing the absence of the black-haired ghost, the maroon-haired boy glared over at the laughing Takeru. "That wasn't funny, TA," he said, punching him in the arm. The blond choked out an "ow" with his dying laughter as he rubbed his arm.

Miyako adjusted her glasses with a sigh, and Hikari frowned. "TK, that was uncalled for."

Takeru only smiled at his the maroon-haired boy, who was still glaring and muttering. The blond apologized before offering Davis a hand. For several long seconds, the other boy stared at the offered hand. Then he took it and promised to get the blond back later. With a waned smile, Takeru said he would be looking forward to it.

Miyako sighed again. "They're hopeless."

Takeru pulled on his coat just the maroon-haired boy suggested the brunette come with them. Blue eyes snapped back to the girl as she shook her head. "I have photography club. Sorry, Davis." His smile waned.

"TK, you okay?" asked Miyako, pulling the boy's arm.

He glanced over at her. He blinked, the smile gone. "Of course, Yolei. What would make you think I'm not?"

"Well, you and Ken have the strangest looks sometimes," she answered with a thoughtful frown.

Takeru smiled, zipping up his coat. "So, what makes you think Ken has these odd looks? Did he catch _you _staring?"

Miyako suddenly blushed and stammered. Her cheeks puffed up. Without saying a word, she marched off with clenched fists. The blond balked for a moment. "Hey, Yolei! I was only kidding!" He waved a hand after her, but she already was out the door. He chuckled to himself with raised eyebrows. "Well, what do you know."

Hikari leaned past Davis. "Hey, where did Yolei go?"

"Apparently Ken caught _her_ staring at him," the blond answered slowly, folding his arms.

Davis frowned. "And what does that mean?" Takeru couldn't help but burst into laughter. A small smile crept onto the brunette's face. "What?" the maroon-haired boy asked again.

"Well, before anything more decides to happen, I'm going to photography club," Hikari adjusted her bag before eying the two. "You two play nice."

"We're not kids, ya know, Hikari." Davis grinned at her. Takeru gave her a thumbs up. Satisfied, the brunette waved goodbye and left the boys in the locker bay. After Davis's coat, the two walked into the schoolyard. The digimon—a winged-gerbil and a bipedal blue lizard—waited for them at the gate, just under the cover of a few leafless trees.

"Hey, Davis, are we going to continue the challenge?" the lizard digimon inquired.

"Of course, Veemon. And TK is going down!" Davis over-dramatically pointed to the ground as he stretched out the last word. Veemon pumped his fists into the air.

Takeru snorted, amused. "I thought Kari and Miyako told us to _wait_, Davis."

The said boy frowned. "Fine, but you're only prolonging your loss!"

The gerbil digimon flew onto his partner's head and peered down at him. "Why do you always have to try and use horror movies? Can't you use other ways?"

"Yeah, like good old fist-t-ruffs." Veemon punched the air before looking up at the humans. Neither of them answered, causing both digimon to sigh.

The boys and the digimon left the schoolyard and began walking to the apartment building where Takeru, Miyako, and Iori lived. On the way, they exchanged stories about their day and talked about plans for the weekend. Eventually, they caught up to Miyako and Hawkmon. She pouted at them, but joined them anyways. The blond turned his head up to the sky as Davis and Miyako chatted. Judging from Miyako's response of stuttering and whacking him in the shoulder with the back of her hand, Takeru guessed the maroon-haired boy asked the lavender-haired girl about Ken. He studied the cloudy sky, wondering if it was going to snow. _It would be perfect if it didn't, _he thought.

When that thought crossed his mind, Takeru paused and studied the ground. It was almost too perfect. _Maybe I've watched too many horror movies with Davis,_ he thought, shaking his head.

"TK, what's the hold-up?"

Takeru looked up with a frown to see his friends staring at him curiously. He folded his arms and turned his eyes back to the pavement. "Dunno," he admitted.

"Does it have something to do with that dream?" asked Patamon.

Shrugging, Takeru unfolded his arms.

"Dream?" asked Miyako as the two approached him. "What was the dream about? Drowning in Davis's dirty room?" Davis lightly punched her shoulder before turning back to their friend. A strong wind scratched at them, causing the six to continue on the way to the apartment building. Along the way, Takeru explained his dream of running around stained glass stairs and fighting shadowy monsters with an over-sized wand. Davis and Miyako gave him a raised eyebrows.

"Maybe it isn't so weird," offered Hawkmon. "I've seen many of your shows, and it appears you humans treat dreams as things of prophecy...or something akin to it."

Miyako snorted. "That's only if you're superstitious."

"As cool as it would be, I gotta agree." Davis folded his arms. "We're not in an anime or something. Things have been insanely quiet in the Digital World, so maybe something's up—or will be soon. As long as Godzilla doesn't start marching down the street—"

Judging from the screams that erupted from down the street, they shouldn't have been too surprised if it had been a hoard of Godzillas.

x

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**Yay, I'm finally continuing this series (or rather, restarting). I was hit in the gut with wanting to play **_**Kingdom Hearts**_**, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to continue this story and participating in a couple of the Digimon Fanfiction Challenge Forum's events/challenges. So, this story covers prompt #23 (wandering) of the Crossover Boot Camp and one of two entries for the Summer/Autumn Event.**

**Total word count (not including author's notes): ~1940**

**Critics are welcomed. Well, hope to see you next time!**


	2. Chapter 1,2: Monsters Rising

Angel Cross: Binding Darkness

****Chapter 1.2: Monsters Rising****

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><p>Screams pierced their ears. The humans and the digimon froze. Without a second thought, all of them raced down the street to find the source. On the way, Takeru couldn't help but think how convenient the situation was, but honking cars of impatient drivers drowned out the thoughts of teasing Davis about it. Crowds seeped between cars and along the sidewalks towards them. Davis, Miyako, and Takeru pulled themselves onto one of the parked cars just as the crowd raced away.<p>

Takeru peered farther down the street in hopes of seeing the multiple Godzilla—or possibly rogue digimon—coming their way, but all he could see was a mass of dark colors farther down the road. He looked to his two friends and their digimon, all four preparing to go into battle.

"Man, maybe I should open my mouth more often when it comes to attacks," said Davis with a mild frown. Sarcastic or not, Miyako shot him a frown as she closed her d-terminal.

"I sent a message to the others. We'll hold them off until everyone gets here," said Miyako, pulling out her red digivice and pocketing her d-terminal.

"With any luck, we'll take care of the majority before they arrive," said Takeru, pulling out his own. He grimaced as he looked to Patamon, resting on the hood of the car. The last wide-scale digimon invasion had created loads of property damage and shaken feelings for the digidestined. Takeru braced himself with a frown as he looked over to the digidestined. "So, are you guys prepared to—?"

"I'm not sure if we have much of a choice," responded Davis before Veemon digivolved into a larger version of himself with a pair of silver wings. The maroon-haired boy exchanged looks with his digimon.

"You ready to go?" asked the digimon.

Davis pulled out a pair of goggles from his backpack. "Let's kick some ass, ExVeemon," responded Davis, snapping them on.

The boys looked over to the lavender-haired girl and the evolved Hawkmon. She pushed up her glasses and gave them a stiff nod. "We gotta do what we gotta do...right, Aquilamon?" The bird nodded grimly before Miyako boarded his back.

Takeru gave them an encouraging smile. After Patamon digivolved into a golden-armored pegasus, the three took off. As the digimon continued flying, the panicking crowd thinned and the strange black outline against the horizon formed into a small army of strange creatures. Mentally, he blocked out the raging questions like "Where was the warning?" and "Who was this new enemy?" with statements like "Maybe we won't be able to take care of many of them."The blond gritted his teeth and strengthened his grip on his companion's mane.

From the front ranks, a magenta creature zoomed towards them, scattering the digimon just as it shot past. The roar and stinging of the harsh winds as Pegasusmon fought to rebalance himself drowned out the faint familiarity of a black and red crest.

By the time the winged horse digimon regained his balance, the other digimon and their partners had disappeared from sight. The only indication Takeru had on where they went was based on the direction of the wild battle cry and the responding shouts for Davis to stop. Takeru looked back to the horde of creatures, now marching several yards under them. The blond squinted down at them as they passed under them.

"Pegasusmon, I don't recognize any of these digimon."

"I don't think they _are_ digimon."

The blond's features grew grim as he thought about the dream he had earlier. A chill ran down his spine. Takeru gripped handfuls of Pegasusmon's mane with clammy hands. After a second, Takeru leaned into the digimon's neck and said, "Let's do this."

Cold wind bit into the blond's face as Pegasusmon dove towards the horde of creatures and showered them with shooting stars. The creatures disappeared in wispy smoke upon contact with the shimmering stars. Takeru buried his face back into the digimon's mane. "It looks like you're right...but what are they then?"

Pegasusmon didn't answer as he continued bombing the strange creatures with stars. After a quarter-mile, the two rounded back and met their comrades.

"So they're—" began Miyako.

"Not digimon." Takeru looked at the small army. He paused. "I'm...not sure if this is the first time I've seen them?"

The other four looked at him, unsure by what he meant. "We'll figure that out once we've taken care of them," said Davis. He adjusted his goggles before glaring down the creatures with a smirk. "Whatever the hell you are, you've entered the wrong dimension! Let's go!" He and ExVeemon tore off again.

Miyako pressed her face into her hands. With a smile, the blond urged Pegasusmon after the maroon-haired boy and the lizard digimon. Aquilamon and Miyako followed soon after. As the lizard digimon and the horse digimon bombed the ground-based troops, the eagle digimon shot down any of the aerial creatures. All disappeared in the same wispy smoke.

As minutes passed and more of the creatures appeared, Takeru felt his blood run cold. Thoughts of a never-ending stream of the dark beings echoed through his mind, but he bit it back and focused on where his friend had disappeared to.

The maroon-haired boy had somehow decided changing to a ground tactic would have been a better idea. Takeru groaned and pointed towards their comrades. "Pegasusmon, there!"

"Already on it," replied Pegasusmon. He banked right and raced after ExVeemon and Davis, just as a horde of the flying creatures dove at them. With a shout of Equis Beam, green beams shot at the creatures. Most disappeared in smoke, obscuring Davis and Veemon. Takeru gritted his teeth as Pegasusmon dashed into the remaining thicket of the creatures. The pegasus showered the dark beings with needles from his mane just as Raidramon raced out of the smoke.

"Hey, TM! Be careful where you aim that!" shouted Davis. Takeru wouldn't have been too surprised if the digidestined was waving a fist at him. The blond swallowed back a response about watching his own ass.

Pegasusmon kept with Raidramon strides, covering Davis and Raidramon as they sent out electrical attacks to take care of small groups of the creatures. Pegasusmon shot at any flying creature that got too close to either of them. Meanwhile, Takeru kept an eye out for any attacks from behind and occasionally checked to see how Miyako and Aquilamon were fairing. When he saw them having move to a higher ground, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Then directing his attention back to what was in front of Pegasusmon.

Two creatures dressed in matching red cloak and wizard hat flanked Davis and Raidramon. Pegasusmon shot an Equis Beam at them. A blue shimmering around the mage-creatures redirected the attack at a horde of smaller ones, all disappearing in smoke. The mages turned to Pegasusmon and Takeru rushed at them, shooting fireballs at the two.

Pegasusmon leaned to the side as the magical attacks passed under his wings. Takeru exhaled momentarily, until he noticed a bolt of white energy fly at them. Pegasusmon bank left and climbed upwards in a spiraling motion to dodge other ones. Takeru clung to Pegasusmon's neck and torso, burying his face into the digimon's mane to protect his face from the burning cold wind.

A loud crackling of flames and a pained whinny pierced the blond's ears. In Takeru's grip, Pegasusmon recoiled and jerked about. The boy's stomach clenched as they fell from the sky.

Pegasusmon managed to slow their descent in the same way they climbed to land safely on the road. Takeru adjusted himself as the horse digimon awkwardly galloped away and the smell of burning feathers and fur made him gag. As the digimon slowed his pace, the blond dismounted and helped Pegasusmon along until he devolved into Patamon. Takeru caught the small digimon and asked, "Patamon, you okay?"

Patamon extended his head-wings, both a little blackened and smelling faintly of burnt fur. "I think so..."

Takeru exhaled a grateful sigh.

A small black creature appeared at his feet. It stared up at Takeru with dead eyes, causing the blond to freeze for a second and grip his partner closer to his torso. The creature looked almost harmless. Cute, even; almost like some plush a bunch of school girls would buy. But the creatures yellow eyes burrowed into the two. Takeru's hands sweated, feeling strangely empty without the strange weapon he had wielded in his..._This isn't the dream,_ he told himself trying to control the bubbling in his stomach.

Takeru bolted away. He raced down the street until his lugs burned with every breath and his legs wobbled with every step. He only found more of the strange creatures. So, he took to zipping in between cars and the creatures to avoid any stray attacks or cars flung his way.

Eventually, he collapsed into a side street with the entrance partially hidden behind an overturned bus. His throat dry and voice crackling with every attempt he made to call for Miyako and Davis. He peaked out at the street beyond the overturned bus, clutching Patamon closer to him with shaking hands.

More of the creatures stalked down the street.

His legs shook as he stood. He hobbled back several feet as the smaller creatures stalked their way over to him, peering at him with their empty eyes. They knew he'd would be easy to catch, but damn if he'd make it quick. Takeru gulped back a lungful of air and prepared to run, even as his legs threatened to collapse on him. Run, at least until he and Patamon were a safe distance away to call the others from a payphone. He kept backing up until he bumped into something organic. He jumped a step forward and spun around to see whatever new creature had cornered him.

Instead, it was a pale, silver-haired boy maybe a year older than Takeru and dressed in bright clothes inappropriate for late January weather.

The stranger examined Takeru and Patamon and then the oncoming horde. He frowned, extending his hand. In a burst of shadows, a sword in the shape of a dragon wing appeared in his hand. "Jez, these things are still out there?" the silver-haired boy muttered. "Hey, get yourself and that thing out of here. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

Takeru nodded before raising to his feet. With a quick word of thanks, the blond staggered past the stranger and to the other end of the street. He paused to catch his breath. _Where did he come from? _Takeru shook his head and continued, eyes focused ahead on on-coming creatures—Heartless, the words rung in his head. Instead, he began inching his way on an altered course to keep a distance between him and some of the bulkier Heartless.

Takeru gritted his teeth, swearing under his breath. "Where is everyone else?"

"Hey, Takeru...I think I still have some of Azulongmon's power left," Patamon said.

"No," Takeru pressed. "You're hurt." He quickened his pace at the sight of a few of the mage-like creatures. "We just have to wait until we get closer to the others." A light bubbling rose in his stomach.

"TK, it's not a major injury. I can fight now."

But Takeru ignored Patamon. When Patamon almost squirmed his way out of Takeru's arms, the blond finally stopped. "Okay, Patamon, but we'll use It when we're closer to the main part of the army." He cradled Patamon in one arm as he took out his digivice again. Patamon leaped out of the digidestined's hands and landed on his feet. In a burst of light, the small digimon evolved into Pegasusmon. Takeru scrambled onto his partner's back.

Pegasusmon galloped his way back the side street they had exited from, only to stop upon seeing the stranger they had left behind racing towards them. Behind him, there were stray balls of fire flying in all directions. The silver-haired boy shouted for them to turn around. The stranger boarded the digimon's back and shouted, "Go!" And the horse raced off.

Any of the Heartless creatures that got too close were either taken care of by a slash of stranger's blade or by an Equis Beam from Pegasusmon's helm. The digimon rounded a corner to the main street, only a handful of yards from the front line.

"What are you doing?" The silver-haired boy leaned around and stared at the horde.

Takeru looked over at the others to see where his friends were. Paildramon shot bullets at most of the Heartless as they advanced, making sure they never broke a ten foot distance. Miyako and Aquilamon supported them from behind, zipping to meet any of the flying Heartless.

"Davis, Miyako, Ken!" shouted Pegasusmon. Takeru waved his arms, beckoning them to come towards him.

The digimon backed up, shooting bullets and energy rings at the Heartless to keep the distance. Ken and Davis climbed down from Paildramon's back and rushed to the three.

"TK, where did you end up running to? If it wasn't for Ken here, I'd—Hey, who's caution-tape yellow?" Davis tilted his head at the silver-haired boy, but the said boy was too busy gawking at the large digimon to notice.

"Where were those when...?" he began, but Takeru cut him off.

"We're going to take care of them really quickly," said Takeru, slipping from Pegasusmon's back. He waved off questions about his hoarse voice. The silver-haired boy also dismounted after snapping his attention away from Paildramon and Aquilamon. Pegasusmon devolved back into Patamon. The silver-haired boy's "How did-?" was cut off when the little gerbil digimon evolved into MagnaAngemon.

The angel digimon rose up into the sky as Takeru called for everyone to back up just a short distance. As they did that, MagnaAngemon drew an outline of a circle several yards in diameter. The circle turned into a stone slab as MagnaAngemon backed away, hovering just above the rest of his friends.

Everyone gave Takeru odd looks as he smirked.

When the slab opened up, the wind howled into the opened gate, swallowing Heartless, broken glass, and any litter from the street. By the time the portal closed up, most of the creatures were gone.

MagnaAngemon floated down to them, glowing and shrinking into Tokomon. Takeru staggered over to pick up his partner as the others gazed at empty streets. "Looks like you used quite a bit of power." He chuckled.

Tokomon smiled back, showing it's massive teeth. "I'm just not going to be able to use it again for a few weeks if we're lucky."

"Well, that's too bad," mumbled the silver-haired boy, "because those things aren't going to be stopping anytime soon."

The four digidestined and the four digimon gave him odd looks. "Aren't you a little cold in that?" asked Miyako.

The addressed looked down at his lack of sleeves before shrugging. "It might be the adren—" His hands then flew to his arms and he trembled, muttering curses to himself about the worst places to end up.

"Wow, he's dumb," muttered Davis to Miyako.

"Well, I-I'm not used to being shoved to new Worlds," stammered the silver-haired boy, shooting the maroon-haired boy a small frown. He looked up at the sky. "Wh-what world is this?"

The group exchanged looks. Takeru shrugged before looking back at the stranger. "Well, we all have questions, so let's begin heading back before more of those creatures show up."

The stranger nodded. Ken offered the silver-haired boy a sweater before they all took off to Takeru's and Miyako's apartment building.

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**So, this part played out a little differently than the original draft. Things that includes are: Miyako's appearance in the battle, Ken's arrival at the end, and Riku's introduction. My favorite of the changes is hands down Riku's introduction. While it appears more random, it's a reasonable way to follow up with the randomness of being shoved into a new world. Not to mention my own mental image with Riku running away with the biggest "nope" face ever with an over-dramatic burst of flames behind him.**

**I should note, the kids are not going to middle school in Odaiba, but rather in Minato. According to information I could find on the location of real world locations, people have guessed that TK, Iori/Cody, and Miyako/Yolei are actually really close to their elementary school (and possibly the middle school given how the fictional Odaiba Elementary School is based on the Koyo Elementary and Koyo Junior High?).**

**As everything is shaping up, chapter one should be eight parts.**


	3. Chapter 1,3: Monster March

Angel Cross: Binding Darkness

****Chapter 1.3: Monster March****

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><p>The headache pounced on her, leaving her to rub her temples and mumbling to herself about their increasing frequency. While the shouting of names of day-trip locations and the scratching of chalk against a board didn't help with her head, it at least gave her cover to fetch a small container of pain medication from the bag at her feet. Even though neither the lid nor the contents rattled as she opened it, all eyes turned to scrutinize her.<p>

"I-I did clear it with the school nurse." The brunette flushed before tucking it back into her bag. "Can I open a window? It's kind of stuffy in here."

The club leader nodded before ordering the rest of the club to return to the original task so they could move to the computer lab down the hall. Hikari picked her way over to the window before hesitantly turning the locked clasp and open the windows. Cold air seeped into the room, making Hikari sigh slightly and shiver with a sudden wish to leave. "It...I must be over thinking it," she whispered to herself. But her mind raced to wonder if something was wrong; wrong in Odaiba, in the Digital World...or possibly coming from the—

_Where's Tai?_

"Yagami, close the damn window or you're going to give us all colds. But I bet that really doesn't matter to you since you're probably already sick." Hikari glanced at the speaker. He cocked an eyebrow and rested his chin on his hand. "Did you see the boogieman or something?"

"No, no." Hikari forced a smile. "I j-just thought it was your mother, Yori. I think she can scare even the boogieman into hiding under his bed."

Yori turned beat red as he turned away. "Yeah, yeah; don't remind me how she's the devil incarnate, Yagami." The club leader called for everyone to move to the computer lab to back-up all photographs from previous outings.

Hikari's stomach quivered. Her eyes studied the outer world: dead grass, leafless trees, the occasional passing car. She frowned.

A flash of white and yellow dash up the tree and halted on a higher branch. Yellow paws waved at her. Hikari blinked, then nodded. As the rest of the club began readying their move to the computer lab, Hikari grabbed her things and rushed out the door. As she raced to the school yard, the brunette mentally went over old psychology information to redirect her attention away from the spinning thoughts in her mind. Just in the middle of quizzing herself on the old theory of hearts and emotions, a kitten digimon leaped down from the branch and closed the remaining distance between them.

"Hikari, did you feel it?" asked the cat.

The brunette's lips thinned and gripped her bag's handle. "You-you mean...? Do you know anything about it, Gatomon?"

Gatomon shook her head. "It might be a good idea to see if anyone else knows."

Hikari nodded before rummaging through her bag for her D-terminal and phone. The girl quickly typed in a phone number, and waited for the other end to pick up.

Rather than her red-haired friend, his mother picked up with a shaky voice. "H-Hikari?"

Hikari cradled the speaker end of her cell phone as she asked, "Mrs. Izumi? Is something wrong? I need to talk to Izzy."

"You won't know where he is either." Mrs. Izumi's voice softened. Before Hikari could open her mouth to ask what the woman meant, Mrs. Izumi continued. "Koushirou's been sick all day. He was just in his bed when I checked in on him last, then the next he was gone...I w-was afraid he went to the Digital World."

Hikari lightened her voice. "I'm sure he's all right. He's with Tentomon, after all." In the back of her mind, the thought of how quick Izzy left without taking his phone or telling his mother he was leaving buzzed in her mind. As Mrs. Izumi mumbled about him being too sick to save the world, Hikari chimed in. "Mrs. Izumi, I can go to the Digital World to see if he's all right." Hikari looked to Gatomon, who studied the girl with a worried expression.

"Th-thank you, Hikari," said Mrs. Izumi. The brunette could almost picture the mother with a wispy smile.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Izumi, everything will be all right." With that, Mrs. Izumi hung up. Hikari's plastered smile faded away before she turned to Gatomon. "We need to get to the Digital World."

Gatomon nodded. The two raced off into the school. By the time she came to the staircase on the first floor, her phone shrilled. She picked it up with a quick breathe before it buzzed a second time. "Tai!"

"Hikari, where are you?" His voice rushed the ragged words, almost as if he had just ran a mile in five minutes.

"I'm still at school." Hikari pressed a hand on the staircase's railing and continued her race up the stairs. "I...Izzy's missing. I was going to go to the Digital World to—"

"Hikari, don't. Stay away from the computers!"

The brunette stopped her climb on the landing between the two floors. "What?" Gatomon looked back at her, urging her to continue. Tai swore and muttered something under his breathe. Thunder boomed on the other end of the phone. "Tai! What was—?"

"Hikari, turn off all the computers you can. Turn off breakers if you have to! Just make sure there aren't more creatures coming through the compu—Shit!" There was another bombing of thunder, followed by a screaming chorus of car alarms.

Hikari's breathe caught. Where was he?

"Hikari, take care of stuff there. I'll meet you at your school; just hang tight. We'll find another way to get Izzy." His phone then clicked off, sending the girl into silence.

The brunette took slow breathes. Her eyes flickered between the second-floor staircase and the hallway leading to the school entrance.

"Kari."

Hikari bit her lip. "I...I know. But Tai needs our help too..."

Gatomon padded her way over to Hikari before sitting on her haunches. "But," said the cat, dipping her head.

Nodding, the brunette turned her head up. "But my club mates need me more. They're...they're in the computer lab." Her eyes went wide. "Gatomon, the breaker room—"

"There's another way; after all, we can't just let the cat hang on the wire." Gatomon's blue eyes glanced to the window.

Hikari followed her gaze then frowned. "That's..."

Flicking her tail, Gatomon said, "We gotta do what we gotta do." She slipped off the tail ring and handed it to her partner. "I'll take care of the power while you take care of your club mates. I'm sure Izzy will be fine for a few more hours."

Reluctantly, Hikari nodded and slipped three of her fingers through it. After stuffing her phone into her jacket pocket, she retrieved her digivice and D-terminal. In a flash of light and sparkles of data, the cat digimon transformed into a large white sphinx wearing silver armor. The two went their separate ways, the sphinx digimon through the way they came and Hikari up the stairs to the computer room.

With every other step, Hikari thought of the possibilities. Could it really be digimon? And why now? Or was it the Dark Ocean's inhabitants, finally coming to claim her? Her stomach churned and her legs became wobbly as she remembered the cold and slimy hands gripping her arm, threatening to drown her in the murky waters to fight their war...or was it to mate with her?

She stopped to lean against the wall, fighting the urge to vomit. _No, I can't...not now._ So, she gritted her teeth and raced the rest of the way. The computer room, being at the end of the hall wasn't too far, she told herself. Half way down the hallway, a loud explosion rattled the building. Every light flickered out, sending the hallways into darkness. Hikari gasped before taking a series of shallow breathes to calm her heart. Farther down the hall, she heard shrieks. Hikari pushed herself from the wall and raced down the hallway, ignoring the beeping from her bag.

When she arrived, her club mates were sticking her heads out the window. "What the hell was that?"

"And I lost all my data!" exclaimed another club mate, who sat hunched over in defeat at one of the computers.

"Wow, be worried about losing all your data and not a terrorist attack!"

"Are you kidding me? You honestly believe all the TV's said? It's totally aliens! Or monsters!"

"Yeah, right. You're looney."

"No, it's totally—!"

"Guys," Hikari shouted, "Are you all right?"

The club leader and the rest of the club turned towards her, all alarmed. "Hikari, what are you doing here?" The club leader walked over to the door to get a better view of the brunette in the twilight of the computer room. "I thought you left?"

"No, I...I just needed to go to the bathroom," she said. "I heard the shriek and raced here. I don't think it's safe. We should get out of here as quickly as we can." Hikari gripped her partner's tail ring.

"Why did you hesitate there?" Even with Yori's face hidden by shadows, his flat voice made Hikari think he was scowling at her through the strange twilight.

"Yori, what are you suggesting? Hikari's behind all of this?"

"Of course not," he said, his own voice rising. "But she probably knows more—"

One of the other club mates groaned. "You watch too many of those supernatural dramas."

Hikari waved a hand down the hall. "Either way, it might be best we go. They probably won't have the lights fixed—"

Someone shrieked and backed up into Yori. Another shouted, "What the hell is that?"

"I told you they were monsters!"

A new wave of panic washed over Hikari. "Guys, we need to get going!" She backed away a step, making room for the rest of her club mates as they all raced out the door. Hikari didn't dare peak into the room to catch whatever had startled her club mates.

Yori hustled out of the room last and slammed the door shut behind him. "Wh-what the hell is going on, Yagami?"

Something in the back of her brain buzzed and her legs felt wobbly. "I-I don't know." Hikari's eyes flickered to the door's unusable lock.

"Well, whatever it was, it's a monster for sure! There's no way a giant rat can have yellow eyes like that!" one of the other girls cried.

"Yagami, you know something, don't you?" Yori jabbing a finger at the brunette. She stumbled back a few steps and looked up at him with furrowed brows. "People have been saying you've had so-called 'breakdowns' for no apparent reason. You know something!"

"How does spazzing equal knowing something, you doofus?" shouted the club leader. She placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder, but the brunette just felt like she felt a little smaller under the comfort. "Do you really think any of that stuff is real? Are you really suffering second-year syndrome?"

"W-we really need—" Hikari stammered.

Yori waved her quiet. "Yagami, you know-!" He froze as if he had been placed on pause. Hikari's eyes squinted for a second, but when a heart-shaped light floated from his chest and into the hands of something behind him, her breathe caught. Hikari's club mates had bolted down the hallway just as Yori's body dissolved into wisps of darkness. The buzzing strengthened in the back of her mind, accompanied with an ache and a lump in her throat. The smoke faded away to show a dark blue creature with hungry yellow eyes. It twitched, rattling it's armor.

Hikari scrambled away, her heart beating in her throat and hands gripping the tail ring tight in her hands. She screamed for Nefertimon. She screamed for Takeru, for Miyako, for Davis. She screamed for Tai. She closed in on the staircase, only a few feet from it when a spiraling orb of purple, blue, and yellow appeared in the stairway. When it faded away, it revealed a cartoon-dog creature and a ghost-like one.

Hikari raced into the classroom to her left and slammed the door shut. She shoved aside desks to get to the window before she opened it. Cold air stung her face with prickly fingers. _What were those things?_ The creatures were not even scary, she knew that. Yet, when she opened the window, her partner's name tore from her lips. She wanted to run from the shaking door, from whatever they were. _They weren't digimon,_ she told herself. _Not with those dead yellow eyes._

The sliding door flew open and crashed into the frame. The rattling metal clawed at her ears. Tears formed into her eyes as she remembered Yori. "Nefertimon! Hurry!" she screamed.

The ghost-like creature flew at her, extending pale and gnarled fingers towards her. Hikari ducked and scrambled from the window. She grabbed a light-weight chair and pulled it with her she backed closer to the window. She picked it up as the armored humanoid and the cartoon dog raced through the desks to her. She did her best to pick up the chair and raise the legs into the air, but the tail ring suddenly burned. Hikari shouted tossing both the chair at the dog and the metal ring.

As soon as the golden ring hit the ground, a ring of golden light erupted from it, knocking away the creatures. The girl backed away a few steps as her eyes flickered between the ring and the creatures. A warmth tickled her fingers, and both her breathing and her heartbeat slowed to normal intervals. The buzzing in the back of her mind quieted down enough for her to focus on other things besides fighting or fleeing, allowing Hikari to momentarily inspect the glowing runes on the golden ring."It's capable of more things...?"

A pink beam shot through the window. It pierced both glass and the ghost that hovered at the magical barrier. It rolled away and disappeared into shadows. Nefertimon hovered by the open window. "Kari! Hurry!"

The brunette raced to the open window, grabbing the ring on her way. The light and the warmth in her fingers disappeared as she crossed the broken glass and climbed through the window. Her ears rung slightly again. A creature reached out for her foot, and Hikari kicked at it before Nefertimon rose into the air. The sphinx banked around the building. She adjusted her course as the swirling balls of color appeared around them to reveal more of the creatures.

The girl noticed strange heart-shaped emblems on some of them. "Those thing's aren't digimon..." Hikari's voice trailed off as she gripped the ring tighter between her fingers.

"No, they're not. They reek of darkness unlike any digimon I've faced." Nefertimon paused before adding, "I'll bet any of my nine lives they're the same creatures we saw in the Dark Ocean..."

Hikari's blood ran cold. She swallowed back some bile and buried her face in Nefertimon's short fur. The giant cat purred.

As they finished their circle around the school, a shout of "Nova blast" echoed into Hikari's ears.

Her head flew up. "Tai! Greymon!"

Nefertimon flew in between balls of what-ever-it-was. More of the creatures floated about, firing a wide variety of elemental attacks at the two. Hikari rubbed the tail ring with her thumbs, hoping it would unleash the protective circle again. But, it remained cold in her fingers.

When there was only a few yards between the two digimon, a small triad of blue mage-like creatures appeared. All of three fired orbs of what looked like water at the sphinx and her rider; Nefertimon lowered her altitude to avoid the orbs. When she came back up, she fired Isis Beams at the middle one while the other two were taken care of by a fireball from behind.

With the threat out of the way, the sphinx closed the distance between her and the dinosaur digimon. Hikari waved at her brother, a smile breaking out on her face, but slowly waned at the sight of a bald, dark-skinned man with a strange weapon in his hand. As she got closer, Hikari noticed the weapon he had rested against against Greymon's hard skull was a sword with key teeth on the edge of it. She widened her smile a little and hesitantly waved. In turn, he nodded back at her with a half-smile.

Somehow, Tai had kept himself from leaning too far over the digimon's head as he shouted, "Hikari, thank God you're okay! Did the other students get out?"

His sister paused and looked down to avoid seeing him blur before her. "I...I don't..." She took in a sharp breathe.

"You did all you could, miss," said the man with a gruff voice. Hikari looked at him, as he again, gave a silent nod. Hikari mimicked it. The man smiled sullenly before turning his eyes forward. "It would be best to get all of us to a safe location." He tightened his grip on the handle of his blade.

Tai nodded. "TK's is the closest place we can get to. It's just across the rainbow bridge."

The foreigner blinked, deep-set eyes wide. "As in Takaishi?"

The brown-haired siblings exchanged confused glances. "You know TK?" asked Hikari.

For a second, the man sat with his arms folded, only as best one could do with a large weapon with key teeth at the end of it. He then looked down at the school. "All right, then. Nancy will be more than happy to see me." He let out a heavy breathe.

Tai shrugged. "Let's go, Greymon."

"On it." The dinosaur marched off towards the Rainbow Bridge with Nefertimon and Hikari following behind them.

x

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****This chapter covers a hole in my previous version of my chapter, centering on how Hikari had been shown to meet Torstein. The original scene was rather short (only a about 200 words), and now her scene is her own part. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. And fixing formatting on fanfiction sucks, oh wow.****


	4. Chapter 1,4: Forget the Party

AngelCross:

Binding Darkness

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><p><strong><strong>Chapter 1.4: Forget the Party<strong>**

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><p>Iori, with a coat in hand, met the group just outside the apartment building. Between arriving there and waiting for the elevator, the only words exchanged were brief inquiries about if everyone was all right. But as they waited for the elevator, Takeru heard a brief mutter from Miyako about having to physically check-in with her family, followed by an offer to tag along from Ken.<p>

The elevator doors dinged open, and everyone save Miyako, Hawkmon, Ken, and Wormmon crammed in. Takeru turned and winked at Miyako. "Don't take your time walking there." The lavender-haired girl turned as red as Hawkmon's feathers. The elevator doors shut.

Davis folded his arms. "What was that about?"

"You really can't see that?" asked the stranger, tugging at the ends of the too-short sweater. Davis stared at him with a blank expression. Takeru snickered. Tokomon and Iori sighed.

Davis looked to his partner, asking if the little lizard knew what they were going off about. Veemon simply shrugged. From when the elevator doors opened to arriving at the apartment door, Davis pleaded with the three all of them to explain what was going on. "Maybe later, Davis." Takeru grinned at his friend's groan and opened the door. "The phone is free for you to use."

Davis stuck out his tongue. "TJ, I was already planning on jacking your phone to call my dad." Then, the maroon-haired boy smiled and gave his friend a thumbs-up. "Thanks, though."

After discarding his coat, Takeru went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. Iori joined him as the Davis, the guest, Veemon, and Tokomon headed for the living room. After filling the kettle, Iori turned off the faucet and said in a low voice, "Our guest is really strange."

"What do you mean?" Takeru looked up from his task of putting the mugs onto the island to study his friend's furrowed brows and downcast eyes.

"Well...you said he just arrived."

"In the middle of the street."

Iori's eyebrows furrowed lower as he turned on the stove burner. "I was thinking he might have somehow traveled through the Digital World, but it doesn't make sense if he just appeared in the middle of the street. The main portals to the Digital World besides the computers have mostly been closed off right?"

"Yeah...you're right there, Iori," said Takeru, pulling the hot chocolate mix from the cabinet and placing it on the counter. "But a lot of portals have opened and closed over the years. A portal could have opened right there." He paused for a second, leaning against the counter. "But, it looks like he's never seen a digimon before."

The younger digidestined nodded. "It doesn't make much sense for someone who has gone to the Digital World to not see digimon there. His convenient arrival doesn't make as much sense either."

The blond turned back to filling the mugs with the hot chocolate powder. "Hey, what if he's from another dimension? Like the Dark Ocean and the Dream World? There might be a better reason why he appeared right there."

Iori nodded. "It would make a little more sense..."

"Hey, didn't your mother teach you it's bad manners to talk about people behind their backs?" The two digidestined looked to see the silver-haired boy leaning against the other side of the island with raised his eyebrows.

"How about yours and eavesdropping?" Takeru capped the tin.

The guest shrugged before marching around the island and into the kitchen. "That over your friend bugging me about how I got Soul Eater."

Before either could ask, Davis raced to the kitchen, exclaiming, "Dude, dude, dude!" The last word continuing as he slid passed the kitchen and into the hallway until it was cut off by a soft thud and a louder curse. The guest sighed. Takeru held back a chuckle in favor of putting away the tin. Padding footsteps accompanied Veemon's question of "Davis, you okay?" Within seconds, Davis parked himself at the opening to the kitchen with sparkling eyes and a goofy grin.

"Hey, Davis, can you help Iori finish this off while I call my mom?"

Davis exclaimed something about being a guest, but the blond ignored it and passed the maroon-haired boy to get to the living room. Takeru picked up the phone and dialed his mother's work phone before sitting down on the couch. One ring later, she picked up.

"Takeru? Takeru, is that you?" Ms. Takaishi asked, voice shaky.

The blond's voice kept light. "Yeah, it's me, Mom. Are you all right?"

She sighed. Her voice steadied but became a little airy as she said, "I heard there were monster attacks in Minato, and I just knew you'd get yourself into the middle of it. I thought that was over with years ago..."

Takeru paused. Could he really tell her about the creatures not being digimon? He exchanged looks with Tokomon, but the little creature gave him an unsure look. Takeru grimaced at the thought of her chewing him out later if she wasn't filled in now...

"Takeru?"

"Um, Mom...they weren't digimon."

Her end went silent.

A wrapping sound halted the silence and whatever conversation was going on in the kitchen. Takeru covered the receiver and exchanged glances with Tokomon. The little creature leaped from the couch's back and made his way to the kitchen to alert someone to open the door. Takeru uncovered the receiver and asked, "Mom?"

"What did they look like?"

"Um...they were a lot of different colors and shapes..." Takeru paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I've—"

"Stay home, Takeru." The boy blinked, taken back by her hard tone. It softened as she continued, "I'll call your father and Yamato to make sure they're okay. Just...stay there."

Takeru furrowed his brows. "Mom—?"

"Stay home. I'll be home in an hour or so. There's some leftovers in the fridge." Then, she added softly, "I'm sorry this happened on your birthday."

"What—" The long dial tone rung in his ears, cutting off all questions Takeru wanted to ask. He put the phone back on it's mount. "Something isn't right..."

"What do you mean?"

Takeru stiffened. Ken stood against the wall, holding Wormmon in his arms. The blond relaxed. "Oh, my mom said some weird things..." He adjusted his sitting position and studied his friend's drooping eyes and slouching posture. "But are _you_ okay? Did Miyako's family wear you out with their enthusiasm?"

"Not really. They're not as overbearing as my parents when they worry." Ken placed Wormmon on the back of the couch and rubbed his eyes. "I just haven't been able to sleep much lately."

"Ken, don't make it like that!" said Wormmon, turning back to his partner and waving his front legs. "Those nightmares have been keeping you up all week!"

Takeru's head snapped up. "What kind of nightmares?" His voice spat out the words faster and harder than he intended.

Ken stepped back, then studied the back of the couch. "I-I think it's the Dark Ocean again...nothing really happens in them. I'm just wandering along the beach and...I swear, sometimes, I see things lurking in the ocean." He paused. "Sometime, I'm not alone...I met a cobalt-haired woman there once."

Takeru turned his blue eyes to the couch padding with an exhale of "Nothing like mine."

"What do you-?"

"Ken's been dreaming of a blue-haired girl?" Davis elbowed his DNA evolution partner in the side, causing Ken to jump and flush. "Heh, nice man. If only I was that lucky."

Ken readjusted his balance and forced a light smirk. "Davis, you're luck is more like miracles: hard to come by and not always reliable."

Davis opened his mouth to exclaim something, but Miyako shouted something about his luck also not helping with getting out of tasks. The maroon-haired boy pursed his lips and muttered.

Iori, Miyako, and Hawkmon came in with a few platters of hot chocolate with the guest following close behind. After placing them on the coffee table, the humans and digimon retrieved mugs and positioned themselves on furniture or the ground.

The guest took a sip from his mug and sputtered. After he muttered to himself about it being to hot, he put the cup back down. "So, where are we?"

Davis leaned forward with a puzzled gaze. "How come ya don't know that this is Odaiba? And it's pretty rude to not give your name, dude."

The corners of the guests lips twitched upwards. "I could say the same for you guys," he replied. "My name is Riku. I've been traveling..." Pausing, he pointed to Tokomon, who had fallen partially asleep next to Takeru. "What exactly are these things? They kind of look like moogles."

Veemon coughed before jabbing a thumb at himself. "We're digimon, not whatever thosemoogies We come from the Digital World."

"So, Odaiba and the Digital World..." Riku leaned back and tilted his head up. "So, then I won't have to explain the world Order stuff to you guys if you already know about other worlds."

Ken cocked his head. "What is—?"

"Other questions?"

"Well then, Riku, what were those things that attacked the city?" Miyako inquired, shifting her weight.

"And where did you get that sword? I so want one!" Davis chirped in.

"Those..._things_ are Heartless, born out of the darkness in people's hearts." Riku tapped at the left side of his chest. "They seek out and consume hearts, even seeking the hearts of worlds, plunging them into darkness and..." He glared at the ground and hunched over to grab his cup from the table.

Takeru bit the insides of his mouth and exhaled through his nose. "This happened to your home?" he asked, voice hard.

"Yes."

Davis frowned before cautiously blowing on his steaming mug. "Then, what happened to your friends?"

Riku remained silent. Several seconds passed.

Iori murmured, "I'm sorry..."

"No need for you to be." He took a quick swig of the hot chocolate and winced. "We just have to be sure your world doesn't follow the same path."

The rest of the group nodded.

"Then, your sword isn't something that you got to help fight those Heartless-things _and_ help save worlds like a hero?" Davis asked.

Riku scowled at his cup.

"It's not you're fault then." Takeru glared at the platter of mugs, at the dark purple designs spinning around the gray plastic. "It's the darkness after all."

A short silence enveloped the room. The blond looked up and met the several curious gazes, some of which turned away. The only one who didn't look up at him was Iori, who instead sipped his hot chocolate, and Tokomon, who was asleep by Takeru's feet.

The door bell buzzed.

Chatter picked back up as Takeru marched from the room and peeked out the apartment door's peephole. Outside, Matt, Sora, Jyou, and their digimon partners with a colorful bag. The blond opened the door, and they filed in and gave him a "Happy Birthday" as they passed. Takeru blinked and absently took the gift bag from Sora.

"What's with that look?" asked Gomamon from Jyou's school bag.

Sora took the gift bags from both Takeru and Jyou as she smiled. "We wouldn't miss your birthday, even if the world was under attack."

Takeru smiled before Matt ruffled his little brother's hair. "Do you really think Mom's warning of monster attacks will keep us away?"

"Of course not, Matt. You wouldn't even notice an entire army under your feet or a double-sided coin being used to get your baseball cards." The younger blond grinned, causing his elder brother to give him a nuggie as revenge.

The two went to the living room, now brimming with activity and conversation. Takeru slipped away from his brother and watched the room with a delighted smile as the chatter warmed the room, almost banishing the memories of the events of barely even an hour ago. He leaned against the wall as he watched Miyako marching away from a befuddled Davis. Matt, Sora, and Hawkmon talked to Riku on the living room furniture. Veemon and Gabumon arm wrestled on the dinning room table. Tokomon napped in a corner. Takeru gave a heavy sigh.

Then the phone rang. Matt—being the closest to the phone—answered it. After a few quick words, the elder blond hung it up and rose. "Takeru, pull the plug on the computer!"

Takeru furrowed his brows, but did as he was told. The chatter quieted as all eyes focused on Matt, asking him why the computer needed to be unplugged. As Takeru left the room for his mother's study, he heard his brother say something about the monsters getting into the Human world by computer.

_Heartless are in the Digital World._ Takeru quickly logged into the ancient computer and pulled out his digivice. He held the device up to the screen and said, "DigiPort, open." The black window unfolded from the start menu, but the little-frame that depicted a scene from the Digital World remained fuzzy. He clicked the map icon to change locations, but the program opened an error box. The blond frowned before he tried again. Each reboot of the program ended with the same error box of unreadable Digital World glyphs. Defeated, Takeru shut off and unplugged the computer.

Upon returning to the living room, both the TV and a radio blared news and music, occasionally changing to a new cacophony of clashing melodies and cheesy dialogue. Takeru resided himself to the wall again, barely paying attention to the radio adds or the TV shows or the digimon discussing the creatures or the sliding door or Miyako and Iori racing out of the apartment or Riku going out onto the terrace. Instead his mind buzzed about the Heartless, computers, and the Digital World. His hands curled into fists. Hikari was at the junior high school in Minato, which had the most computers he had ever seen in one place. T_he school's not too far from where we first saw the Heartless. They might have used a new portal. _He shook his head. _Kari's with Gatomon. Tai is probably with her now...or she's on her way to her home. Maybe—_

"Dang it, Tai, could you pick up your phone?" Takeru turned his head to Davis's pouting face. The maroon-haired boy dialed again and brought it up to his ear. A few seconds later, he grumbled and put down his phone. "Even, Kari."

Both of them sighed, lowering their head.

Twenty minutes passed. Davis knocked his knuckles against the wall, and Takeru tapped his foot the entire time. With every passing moment, the blond's eyes flickered to the open hallway and the door obscured by the wall he leaned against. He thought about going out with Tokomon to see if he couldn't meet her halfway or head off to her apartment building. But then he remembered Tokomon was still only Tokomon, so he might not have the energy needed to evolve into Angemon or Pegasusmon yet. Takeru's eyes shut and thought about asking Riku to go with them to find her.

Then, the door bell buzzed. Takeru's breathe caught and mind cleared. He bounded to the door and, without pause, opened the door to the rosy-cheeked Yagami siblings with Agumon and Gatomon glancing about. A dark man in an oil-stained jumpsuit stood farther into the hallway. The blond gave them a gaping smile. "Hikari, Taichi!"

"Sorry for being late," Tai said, putting a hand on Hikari's shoulder. "We kept running in to those damn Heartless-things."

Takeru nodded before looking towards Hikari, who looked down at her feet. Takeru restrained from reaching out to her and said, "At least you got here safe."

"No love for the digimon, TK?" asked Gatomon, slinking over to him and swatting the boy on the knees.

"Yeah, what are we, chopped brains?" The orange lizard digimon grinned.

Takeru rubbed his nose. "Sorry about that, Gatomon and Agumon."

Hikari passed him first, a gold ring clenched in her hands. The cat digimon followed and swatted him lightly with her ringless tail. Tai and Agumon followed them, both offering a "happy birthday." The man stepped inside last and took off his shoes. As the man did so, Takeru craned his head to study his face.

"Hey...sir?"

The addressed lowered his gaze to meet the Takeru's.

Takeru blinked for a moment. "Ahh...Have I met you before?"

The man studied him curiously with a raised eyebrows and a mouth formed into an "o." A few seconds passed, before he awkwardly bowed. "I apologize for not asking to come in before barging in. I'm still not so good with this world's mannerisms. My name is Torstein Herrman."

Takeru shook his head, trying to search his memory for any man named Torstein Herrman. _Who am I kidding,_ he thought before bowing back. "Nice to meet you. My name is Takeru Takaishi, but call me TK."

"All right...TK." He looked around before walking to the living room.

The blond folded his arms and studied the man's straightened posture and slow tread. _Why had I thought I knew him...? Mom said weird things, and then there's this weird feeling. And those dreams I had...Oh well, I guess._ Takeru shut the door before following the bald man into the overcrowded living room.

Sora had continued flipping through the channels, clipping off dramas and news reports. Matt, Ken, Wormmon, and Jyou crowded around the island and obscured the radio. Several of the digimon had crowded Agumon, most likely asking about the Heartless he had fought. Davis, Tai, Hikari, and Gatomon sat around the dinning room table. The brunette's face was turned down as the others talked.

The blond walked over to them just as Davis said, "Yeah, we saw 'em too. Pretty cool and nasty guys aren't they?"

"I wouldn't say they're cool, Davis," responded Tai, folding his arms. "Those things are nasty, but also unpredictable. Their movement is so animal-like; it's unlikely they were functioning on their own."

"I don't think anybody's controlling them," Hikari said, her voice low. "We may have fought digimon that wanted to get us, but none of them who were under control would just randomly steal someone's heart." She shivered and bowed her head lower. Gatomon reached out a paw and rubbed circles through the girl's sweater sleeve.

"Steal someone's heart? You make it sound as if someone had died," Takeru said, leaning against the table. He grimaced, seeing her shoulders moving closer together and Tai's features darkened.

"D-did someone?" Davis asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Takeru's heart sank as she didn't answer. The brunette rose. "I-I need some air," she said, forcing a smile. "It's pretty stuffy in here, isn't it?"

The blond rose, also offering a smile. "We made some hot chocolate, but it looks like we didn't make enough. Would you guys like some?"

The girl nodded. Gatomon asked for milk. Davis offered to help. The boys scooted into the kitchen passed the four listening to the radio.

"Hey, TA, where's the marshmallows Kari likes?" asked Davis.

Takeru grabbed a mug and turned on the hot water. "Which do you want? The ones made into letters?" He filled the mug and turned off the faucet.

"Well, it's easier than getting a card," murmured Davis.

Takeru sighed, putting the mug on the counter, before grabbing the bag of marshmallows from a cupboard to his right. "If what Riku said is right, those things are made of _Darkness_. How in the world can you _want_ something made of that?"

"Dude, what's your problem? Afraid of the dark or something?"

The blond slammed the faucet off and glared at his friend. How could he properly explain all the darkness had done? How too much of it sends the Digital World into chaos? How so many of their enemies had used the powers of darkness? How the Dark Ocean had almost taken Hikari? How Devimon—?

"You could say that." Takeru tossed the maroon-haired boy the bag. He looked away, noticing Jyou and Matt turning their attention back to the radio. The blond grimaced.

"TK, I need to talk to you for a second." Torstein stood in the hallway, with his arms folded. He indicated his head toward the foyer.

Takeru nodded before telling Davis, "Don't forget Gatomon's milk."

"I won't," spat Davis.

The blond went to join the bald man in the foyer, a little bit farther away from the racket. On his way, Takeru tossed all his murky and lingering thoughts about darkness from his mind, but some still clung. So, Takeru instead turned his focus to what Torstein had to say. "Yes, Mr. Herrman?"

"Unfortunately, Nancy won't be happy about this." He exhaled and glanced to the door, as if he already regretted his decision.

"What do you mean by that? And how do you know my mother?" Takeru paused. "...I have met you before?"

The man nodded. He held out his left hand, and a pillar of light with cascading stars appeared in his hand momentarily. Then, the light morphing into a key-shaped sword. "Yes, I met you and your mother a long time ago. I made her a promise to not come here unless this was to happen again."

Takeru's eyes widened. "This? The Heartless."

Torstein nodded. "Six years ago, Heartless came to this world. I managed to keep them away for a while, but this world's natural barrier is crumbling." He paused, eyes glaring at the weapon in his hand as if it was a useless hunk of metal. "A long time ago, I chose you as my heir to this...legacy." He spat out the last word. Takeru furrowed his brows, but nodded for the man to continue. "The legacy of the Keyblade will help save this world and protect others from Heartless, but—"

"I'll do it."

Torstein sighed, flicking his wrist and the blade disappeared into shimmering light and into a chain around his wrist. He trudged to the edge where the hallway met the living room. Takeru followed. "Everyone in this room had saved this world, and that other one."

"You know of the Digital World?" Takeru peeked up at the man's expression.

Torstein smiled slightly and pinched his fingertips together. "But, being who you are is different from being a wielder of the Keyblade."

Takeru focused his gaze about the room. "If I can't save my world, it would forever haunt me, like how it does for Riku...and you?"

"Who is Riku?" Torstein looked down at the blond. Takeru told the man about the off-worlder. As he talked, the blond found it almost strange how easily talking to this stranger was. How come he didn't remember Torstein at all? Takeru's mind flipped through possibilities of short meetings that wouldn't stick to an eight- or nine-year-old's memory. _No...I'm sure I..._

Takeru closed his mouth before reopening it. Then closed it. _What was I about to ask...?_

Torstein looked ready to ask a question himself, but then he turned away.

A few moments later, the door creaked open. "Takeru, I'm home! Traffic was—"

Both Takeru and Torstein turned back to see Ms. Takaishi staring at the two with a shoe halfway off.

"Welcome back, Mom," said the blond.

The bald man sighed. "...Hello, Nancy."

Ms. Takaishi kicked her other shoe off before marching over to him. "I thought you said you'd stay away." Both Takeru and Torstein stepped back as she closed in.

"I did promise that," said the man, leaning back and looking away. "As long as the Heartless didn't return."

Takeru backed into the closed wall and studied Torstein and his mother. She stared up at him with narrowed eyes. Despite the height difference, Torstein looked just about ready to back away at any moment form Ms. Takaishi.

"And?" She clutched the strap to her work bag.

He looked her square in the eye with a hard expression. "There was no extra clause to that promise, Nancy. I will keep that one."

Takeru furrowed his brows. _Another promise?_ He looked at his mother. "Mom, what does that mean?"

The blonde woman tucked locks of her hair behind her ears as she leaned back. She exhaled a steady breathe. "You really haven't changed."

Torstein nodded. The man's oil-stained hand momentarily reached out for her calloused one, but then drew back. Takeru's eyes grew wide. There was no way he couldn't remember— The blond boy rubbed his head. The two adults looked over at him. "What...?"

"I will leave now." Torstein gave a short bow before walking passed her. He stopped, then turned back and fished something from his pocket. He handed it to Takeru and left without another word.

x

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**.**

****And now, we're at 1.4, and it falls in-line with the middle of the original chapter two. The first half is very similar, but I added a few things. This ******_**last**_****** half though, I'm decently fond of...or at least the idea. Torstein and Nancy's interactions have changed vastly since the original draft, and I'm actually happy about that: in the original, she just yells at him to leave, and he does so accordingly. Here...well, you can see it.****

****And the dub dialogue is fun to reference.****


End file.
